Today is October 23 2014

National Boston Cream Pie Day: More

• National Mole Day: More
  At exactly 6:02 AM and 6:02 PM on 10/23
• National TV Talk Show Host Day: More
  Johnny Carson’s birthday
• iPod Day: More
• National Pharmacy Technician Day: More

• In 1884,The first baseball contest, that would become the World Series, is played between the American Association (AA) NY Mets and Providence (NL). Providence won the game 6-0 and the, then three game series 3-0.
  From Wikipedia: 'Until the formation of the American Association in 1882 as a second major league, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (1871–1875) and then the National League (founded 1876) represented the top level of organized baseball in the United States. All championships were awarded to the team with the best record at the end of the season, without a postseason series being played. From 1884 to 1890, the National League and the American Association faced each other in a series of games at the end of the season to determine an overall champion. These series were disorganized in comparison to the modern Series: games played ranged from as few as three in 1884 (Providence defeated New York three games to zero), to a high of fifteen in 1887 (Detroit beat St. Louis ten games to five), and both the 1885 and 1890 Series ended in ties, each team having won three games with one tie game.
  
  The series was promoted and referred to as "The Championship of the United States", "World's Championship Series", or "World's Series" for short. In his book Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883, Simon Winchester mentions in passing that the World Series was named for the New York World newspaper, but this view is disputed.
  
  The 19th-century competitions are, however, not officially recognized as part of World Series history by Major League Baseball, as it considers 19th-century baseball to be a prologue to the modern baseball era. Until about 1960, some sources treated the 19th-century Series on an equal basis with the post-19th-century series. After about 1930, however, many authorities list the start of the World Series in 1903 and discuss the earlier contests separately. (For example, the 1929 World Almanac and Book of Facts lists "Baseball's World Championships 1884–1928" in a single table, but the 1943 edition lists "Baseball World Championships 1903–1942")'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube (1903-2013): More
• In 1707, The first 'united' Parliament of Great Britain meets.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the UK Parliament or British Parliament, is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories. It alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and its territories. Its head is the Sovereign of the United Kingdom (currently Queen Elizabeth II) and its seat is the Palace of Westminster in the City of Westminster, London.
  
  The parliament is bicameral, consisting of an upper house (the House of Lords) and a lower house (the House of Commons). The Sovereign forms the third component of the legislature (the Queen-in-Parliament). The House of Lords includes two different types of members: the Lords Spiritual, consisting of the most senior bishops of the Church of England, and the Lords Temporal, consisting mainly of life peers, appointed by the Sovereign on the advice of the Prime Minister, and elected representatives of the hereditary peers. Prior to the opening of the Supreme Court in October 2009, the House of Lords also performed a judicial role through the Law Lords.
  
  The House of Commons is a democratically elected chamber with elections held at least every five years. The two Houses meet in separate chambers in the Palace of Westminster (commonly known as the Houses of Parliament) in London. By constitutional convention, all government ministers, including the Prime Minister, are members of the House of Commons – or, less commonly, the House of Lords – and are thereby accountable to the respective branches of the legislature. Most cabinet ministers (Secretaries of State) tend to be from the Commons, whilst junior ministers are from both Houses.
  
  The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Treaty of Union by Acts of Union passed by the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. At the start of the 19th century, Parliament was further enlarged by Acts of Union ratified by the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of Ireland that abolished the latter and added 100 Irish MPs and 32 Lords to the former to create the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927 formally amended the name to the "Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland", five years after the secession of the Irish Free State.
  
  The UK parliament and its institutions have set the pattern for many democracies throughout the world, and it has been called "the mother of parliaments". However, John Bright – who coined the epithet – used it with reference to a country (England) rather than a parliament.
  
  In theory, the UK's supreme legislative power is vested in the Crown-in-Parliament. However, the Crown acts on the advice of the Prime Minister and the powers of the House of Lords have been curtailed; thus power is de facto vested in the House of Commons'.
  - At FamousDaily: More
  - At Wikipedia: More
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• In 1906, The first heavier-than-air flight in Europe is made at Champs de Bagatelle, Paris, France, by Alberto Santos-Dumont.
  From Wikipedia: 'Alberto Santos-Dumont (Portuguese pronunciation: ; 20 July 1873 – 23 July 1932) was a Brazilian aviation pioneer. The heir of a wealthy family of coffee producers, Santos-Dumont dedicated himself to aeronautical study and experimentation in Paris, France, where he spent most of his adult life.
  
  Santos-Dumont designed, built, and flew hot air balloons and early dirigibles, his rising fame in this field culminating in his winning of the Deutsch de la Meurthe prize on 19 October 1901 on a flight that rounded the Eiffel Tower.
  
  Following his pioneering work in airships, Santos-Dumont constructed a heavier-than-air aircraft, the 14-bis. On 23 October 1906 he flew this to make the first powered heavier-than-air flight in Europe to be certified by the Aéro Club de France and the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI).
  
  In his homeland, Brazil, Santos-Dumont is a national hero, having his name inscribed on the Tancredo Neves Pantheon of the Fatherland and Freedom. He is credited in Brazil as the "father of aviation" and "father of flight". Santos-Dumont occupied the 38th chair of the Brazilian Academy of Letters from 1931 until his death in 1932.
  
  Although Santos-Dumont continued to work on non-rigid airships, his primary interest soon turned to heavier-than-air aircraft. By 1905, he had finished his first fixed-wing aircraft design, and also a helicopter. Santos-Dumont finally succeeded in flying a heavier-than-air aircraft on 23 October 1906, piloting the 14-bis before a large crowd of witnesses at the grounds of Paris' Château de Bagatelle in the Bois de Boulogne for a distance of 60 metres (197 ft) at a height of about five meters (16 ft). This was the first flight of a powered heavier-than-air machine in Europe to be certified by the Aéro-Club de France, and won the Deutsch-Archdeacon Prize for the first officially observed flight of more than 25 meters. (Although, by this time the Wright Brothers had already flown their Wright Flyer III for over half an hour though not in a flight recognized by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale.) On 12 November 1906 Santos-Dumont set the first world record recognized by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale, by flying 220 metres (722 ft) in 21.5 seconds'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1911, The first use of aircraft in war was an Italian pilot, Captain Carlo Piazza, who took-off from Libya to observe Turkish army lines during the Italo-Turkish War.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War (Turkish: Trablusgarp Savasi, "Tripolitanian War"; also known in Italy as Guerra di Libia, "Libyan War") was fought between the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) and the Kingdom of Italy from September 29, 1911, to October 18, 1912. As a result of this conflict, Italy captured the Ottoman Tripolitania Vilayet (province), of which the main sub-provinces (sanjaks) were Fezzan, Cyrenaica, and Tripoli itself. These territories together formed what became known as Italian Libya.
  
  During the conflict, Italian forces also occupied the Dodecanese islands in the Aegean Sea. Italy had agreed to return the Dodecanese to the Ottoman Empire according to the Treaty of Ouchy in 1912 (also known as the First Treaty of Lausanne (1912), as it was signed at the Château d'Ouchy in Lausanne, Switzerland.) However, the vagueness of the text allowed a provisional Italian administration of the islands, and Turkey eventually renounced all claims on these islands in Article 15 of the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.
  
  Although minor, the war was a precursor of World War I as it sparked nationalism in the Balkan states. Seeing how easily the Italians had defeated the weakened Ottomans, the members of the Balkan League attacked the Ottoman Empire before the war with Italy had ended.
  
  The Italo-Turkish War saw numerous technological changes, including the airplane. On October 23, 1911, an Italian pilot, Captain Carlo Piazza, flew over Turkish lines on the world's first aerial reconnaissance mission, and on November 1, the first ever aerial bomb was dropped by Sottotenente Giulio Gavotti, on Turkish troops in Libya, from an early model of Etrich Taube aircraft. The Turks were the first to shoot down an aeroplane by rifle fire'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
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• In 1932, The radio show 'Fred Allen Show' premieres.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Fred Allen Show was a popular and long-running American old-time radio comedy program starring comedian Fred Allen and his wife Portland Hoffa. Over the course of the program's 17-year run, it was sponsored by Linit Bath Soaps, Hellmann's, Ipana, Sal Hepatica, Texaco and Tenderleaf Tea. The program ended in 1949 under the sponsorship of the Ford Motor Company.
  
  The most popular period of the program was the few years of sponsorship under the Texaco Gas Company. During this time, the program was known as Texaco Star Theatre with Fred Allen. On the December 6, 1942 episode of the program, Allen premiered his first in a series of segments known as "Allen's Alley". The segments would have Allen strolling through an imaginary neighborhood, knocking on the "doors" of various neighbors, including average-American John Doe (played by John Brown), Mrs. Nussbaum (Minerva Pious), pompous poet Falstaff Openshaw (Alan Reed), Titus Moody (Parker Fennelly), and boisterous southern senator Beuregard Claghorn (announcer Kenny Delmar). Texaco ended its sponsorship of the program in 1944.
  
  Some prominent guest stars on Allen's program over the years included Frank Sinatra, Orson Welles, Roy Rogers, Bela Lugosi, Ed Gardner, Norman Corwin and Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy'."'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1941, The animated movie 'Dumbo', was released..
  From Wikipedia: 'Dumbo is an American animated film produced by Walt Disney Productions and premiered on October 23, 1941, by RKO Radio Pictures. The fourth Disney animated feature film, it is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and illustrated by Harold Pearl for the prototype of a novelty toy ("Roll-a-Book"). The main character is Jumbo Jr., a semi-anthropomorphic elephant who is cruelly nicknamed "Dumbo". He is ridiculed for his big ears, but in fact he is capable of flying by using his ears as wings. Throughout most of the film, his only true friend, aside from his mother, is the mouse, Timothy – a relationship parodying the stereotypical animosity between mice and elephants.
  
  Dumbo was made to recoup the financial losses of Fantasia. It was a deliberate pursuit of simplicity and economy for the Disney studio, and at 64 minutes, it is one of Disney's shortest animated features. Sound was recorded conventionally using the RCA System. One voice was synthesized using the Sonovox system, but it, too, was recorded using the RCA System'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
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• In 1958, The Smurfs, a fictional race of blue dwarves, later in Hanna-Barbera cartoons, appear for the first time in a story, which was serialized in Spirou magazine.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Smurfs (French: Les Schtroumpfs; Dutch: De Smurfen) is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small blue humanoids who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. The Smurfs was first created and introduced as a series of comic characters by the Belgian comics artist Peyo (pen name of Pierre Culliford) in 1958, where they were known as Les Schtroumpfs. There are more than one hundred Smurf characters, and their names are based on adjectives that emphasize their characteristics, such as "Jokey Smurf", who likes to play practical jokes on his fellow smurfs. "Smurfette" was the first female Smurf to be introduced in the series. The Smurfs wear Phrygian caps, which came to represent freedom during the modern era.
  
  The word “Smurf” is the original Dutch translation of the French "Schtroumpf", which, according to Peyo, is a word invented during a meal with fellow cartoonist André Franquin, when he could not remember the word salt.
  
  The Smurfs franchise began as a comic and expanded into advertising, films, TV series, ice capades, video games, theme parks, and dolls'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1963, The British science fiction TV show 'Dr Who' premieres.
  From Wikipedia: 'Doctor Who is a British science-fiction television programme produced by the BBC since 1963. The programme depicts the adventures of the Doctor, a Time Lord—a space and time-travelling humanoid alien. He explores the universe in his TARDIS, a sentient time-travelling space ship. Its exterior appears as a blue British police box, which was a common sight in Britain in 1963 when the series first aired. Accompanied by companions, the Doctor combats a variety of foes, while working to save civilisations and help people in need.
  
  The show is a significant part of British popular culture, and elsewhere it has become a cult television favourite. The show has influenced generations of British television professionals, many of whom grew up watching the series. The programme originally ran from 1963 to 1989. There was an unsuccessful attempt to revive regular production in 1996 with a backdoor pilot, in the form of a television film. The programme was relaunched in 2005 by Russell T Davies, who was showrunner and head writer for the first five years of its revival, produced in-house by BBC Wales in Cardiff. The first series of the 21st century featured Christopher Eccleston in the title role and was produced by the BBC. Doctor Who also spawned spin-offs in multiple media, including Torchwood (2006–2011) and The Sarah Jane Adventures (2007–2011), both created by Russell T Davies; K-9 (2009–2010); Class (2016); and a single pilot episode of K-9 and Company (1981). There also have been many spoofs and cultural references to the character in other media.
  
  Twelve actors have headlined the series as the Doctor. The transition from one actor to another is written into the plot of the show, as well as the differing approach to the role that each brings, under the concept of regeneration into a new incarnation. The show's premise is that this is a life process of Time Lords through which the character of the Doctor takes on a new body and, to some extent, new personality, which occurs after sustaining an injury which would be fatal to most other species. Each actor's portrayal differs, but they are all intended to be aspects of the same character and form part of the same storyline. The time-travelling nature of the plot means that, on occasion, different Doctors have met each other. Peter Capaldi took on the role after Matt Smith's exit in the 2013 Christmas special "The Time of the Doctor"'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
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• In 2001, NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft began orbiting Mars (October 23 PDT). In 2010, it became the longest-operating spacecraft ever sent to Mars. From Wikipedia: 'Its mission is to use spectrometers and a thermal imager to detect evidence of past or present water and ice, as well as study the planet's geology and radiation environment.'
  From Wikipedia: '2001 Mars Odyssey is a robotic spacecraft orbiting the planet Mars. The project was developed by NASA, and contracted out to Lockheed Martin, with an expected cost for the entire mission of US$297 million. Its mission is to use spectrometers and a thermal imager to detect evidence of past or present water and ice, as well as study the planet's geology and radiation environment. It is hoped that the data Odyssey obtains will help answer the question of whether life has ever existed on Mars and create a risk-assessment of the radiation future astronauts on Mars might experience. It also acts as a relay for communications between the Mars Exploration Rovers, Mars Science Laboratory, and previously the Phoenix lander to Earth. The mission was named as a tribute to Arthur C. Clarke, evoking the name of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
  
  Odyssey was launched April 7, 2001 on a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and reached Mars orbit on October 24, 2001, at 02:30 UTC (October 23, 19:30 PDT, 22:30 EDT). It is currently in a polar orbit around Mars with an altitude of about 3,800 km or 2,400 miles.
  
  By December 15, 2010 it broke the record for longest serving spacecraft at Mars, with 3,340 days of operation, claiming the title from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor. It currently holds the record for the longest-surviving continually active spacecraft in orbit around a planet other than Earth, ahead of the Pioneer Venus Orbiter, at 14 years, 11 months and 28 days'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More

Tomorrow's food holiday will be 'National Boston Cream Pie Day'. This vanilla custard filled, two layer, .sponge cake, not pie, was created for the first time in 1851 at the Parker House Hotel, (I believe it was in the kitchen). It may not be the favorite slapstick tossing pie, but there is that custard. I would purchase a Gallagher, front row, proof clear plastic cover, just in case. You may want to do a quick duck-and-cover, if you see three guys (one bald, one with a frizzy Afro and the other with a kitchen bowl haircut) with pies of any kind.

Let me say, right off, that the next holiday has nothing to do with animal awareness or a social network spy app, placed there by me long ago, so as to gain your confidence . Tomorrow will be 'National Mole Day'. This mole is a unit of mass (used in Chemistry), defined to be 6.022 x 10 to the 23 molecules, atoms, or some other unit. So at exactly 6:02 AM and 6:02 PM on 10/23 you can do whatever you think appropriate to celebrate.

An entertainment holiday tomorrow will be 'National TV Talk Show Host Day': Celebrated on Johnny Carson’s birthday.

Tomorrow we celebrate the next advance from the transistor radio and the WalkMan. Tomorrow will be 'iPod Day'. This celebrates the day in 2001, that the first one was unveiled.

We have a health/medical related awareness day tomorrow 'National Pharmacy Technician Day'. This week is also American Pharmacy Week'.

Seneca once said 'Time heals what reason cannot.'. We can only deal with the now, plan for the future and remember the past. Let us see if remembering October 23, in the past, will give us any insight, any medicine to heal the now and prevent future mishap.

In 1707, The first 'united' Parliament of Great Britain meets.

In 1906, The first heavier-than-air flight in Europe was made at Paris, France, by Alberto Santos-Dumont.

In 1911, The first use of aircraft in war, was an Italian pilot who took-off from Libya to observe Turkish army lines during the Italo-Turkish War.

In 1921, A soldier is chosen from among four unidentified deceased soldiers of WW I, to be the USA's 'Unknown Soldier'

In 1932, The radio show 'Fred Allen Show' premieres.

In 1941, The animated movie 'Dumbo', was released.

In 1958 - The Smurfs, a fictional race of blue dwarves, later in Hanna-Barbera cartoons, appear for the first time in a story, which was serialized in Spirou magazine.

In 196u3 - The British science fiction TV show 'Dr Who' premieres. One of my favorites.

No. 1 song

• Do Wah Diddy Diddy - Manfred Mann: More
  'Oh, Pretty Woman' has been displaced by 'Do Wah Diddy Diddy', which will hold the no. 1 spot until October 31 2014, when 'We'll Sing in the Sunshine', takes over.

Top movie

• Send Me No Flowers More
  Having displaced 'Fail-Safe', it will be there until the weekend box office of October 25 1964 when, 'Mary Poppins (regains the box office)', takes over.

• FamousBirthdays.com: October 23 Birthdays More
• FamousDaily.com: October 23 History More
• History.com: Historical Events on 23rd October More
• HistoryOrb.com: Famous Deaths on 23rd October More
• On-This-day.com history 23rd October More
• On-This-day.com music history 23rd October More
• Wikipedia.com: History October 23 More

Food: Apple Month, Rhubarb Month, Sausage Month, Spinach Lovers Month, National Chili Month, National Popcorn Poppin' Month, National Seafood Month Pear and Pineapple Month, , Vegetarian Month
Other
AIDS Awareness Month, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Bullying Prevention Month, Celiac Disease Awareness Month, Class Reunion Month, Down Syndrome Awareness Month, Dyslexia Awareness Month, National Book Month, National Dental Hygiene Month, National Down Syndrome Month, National Spina Bifida Awareness Month, National Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Awareness Month

October is:

October origin (from Wikipedia): October is the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and one of seven months with a length of 31 days. The eighth month in the old Roman calendar, October retained its name (from the Greek meaning 'eight') after January and February were inserted into the calendar that had originally been created by the Romans. "
October is commonly associated with the season of autumn in the Northern hemisphere and spring in the Southern hemisphere, where it is the seasonal equivalent to April in the Northern hemisphere and vice versa.

October at Wikipedia: More

If you couldn't afford 90 cents for a movie ticket, 50 years ago, or your 45 RPM record player was broke, you might watch one of these shows on TV.
From this Wikipedia article: More

Best selling books of 1964 More

• Astronomy Picture of the Day: More
• NOAA: - National Hurricane Center - Atlantic Graphical Tropical Weather Outlook: More
• Listen to Old Radio Shows: (streaming mp3 with schedule) More
• NASA TV: (video feed) More
  NASA TV schedule: More
• Public Domain eBook Links

  Sites for downloading or reading free Public Domain eBooks. Available in various formats. More

• Podcast: A Moment of Science. Approximately 1 minute general science facts.
  Home page: More
  RSS: More
• Podcast: The Naked Scientists. Current science, medicine, space and other science
  Home page: More
  RSS: More
• Podcast: Quirks & Quarks. Current science news.
  Home page: More
  RSS: More
• Articles and videos: Universe Today. Current space and astronomy news.
  Home page: More
  RSS: More
• Old Picture of the Day - "Each day we bring you one stunning little glimpse of history in the form of a historical photograph."
  Home page: More
  RSS: More

Below, are listed several holiday sites that I reference in addition to other holiday researches.

US Government Holidays

• 2014 Postal Holidays More
• 2014 Official Federal Holidays More

Holidays Worldwide

• List of holidays by country More
• Holidays and Observances around the World More